Homilies from Bishop Olmsted

To understand the history of the pro-life movement, we need to reach back much further than 1973. We must go all the way to a particularly influential 19th Century British philosopher who did us no favors on the way to Roe v Wade: John Stuart Mill.

Today’s Gospel could easily be misunderstood and misused. Jesus says: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” These words explain why loving Jesus, even for His sinless Mother, is not always easy.

Jesus held a banquet one time: on the night before He died on the Cross. And whom did He invite? The Twelve Apostles. Were they poor? YES! They no longer had jobs. At Jesus’ invitation, they had left everything and followed Him -- abandoning their boats and fishing nets, or leaving behind a tax collector’s desk, or whatever else.

When we come to pray, when we come to Mass, the Lord gives us far more than we can ask or imagine. He gives us His very Self. He meets us personally, in an encounter that is far from frivolous and much wiser than despair. Jesus comes as a fire that we cannot manipulate; as a flame that frees from distorted notions that surround us, about masculinity or femininity, lies about marriage, chaste living and the dignity of every person.

Following is the prepared text from Bishop Olmsted's homily on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School

When Jesus responds to Martha in today’s Gospel, something disturbing occurs. His words catch her off guard; they are unexpected and unsettling.

Following is the prepared text from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s homily for Good Friday of the Lord's Passion. April 19, 2019 In the Eastern European country of Lithuania, there is a place called the “Hill of Hope.” More than 50,000 crosses of all shapes and sizes occupy this site of less than an acre. Why [...]

  Thirsting for Christ Following is the prepared text from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s homily for the Chrism Mass. April 15, 2019 “You yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord, ministers of our God you shall be called. (Is 61:1ff)” “Ustedes seran llamados ‘sacerdotes del Senor’; ministros de nuestro Dios’ se les [...]

Following is the prepared text from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent, celebrated with the Catholic Academy for Life Leadership. March 31, 2019 In December 1983, a man in a white cassock went to visit a man in a blue sweater, blue jeans, and white slippers from which the laces [...]